are you ready?

for snow that is? i'm not really, but it does make it feel more like christmas. i don't know if it's snowed in your neck of the woods, but it began here yesterday. today it hasn't let up. there are a couple of things i don't like about the snow:
*when it gets dirty & then it's grey, i prefer the pretty white stuff!
*it's hard to keep your car clean especially when it's black, although the rest of the time i love having a black car.
*crazy drivers in the snow & all the accidents. some days it takes forever to get to work!
other than that i love the snow. if i could have it my way, and really should it be any other way, i would have snow just on the grass for the month of december & i would love the mountains to have nice snow from november thru march for a wonderful ski season. lol!

i am loving all the christmas lights! it makes me so happy to see all the lights & listening to so much christmas music! at this time of year there is no other type of music for me. there are more houses in our neighborhood with lights on than ever before. it's so pretty! i took the kids to drive through layton's lights on sunday. we went through twice. if you've never been it's worth the drive, unless you're amy or gretchen, both out of state. we usually go at least once a week to see the lights.

oh another item worth mentioning...i have cooked for 3 nights in a row & will be cooking again tonight! my family has been loving it. it's really not that bad when you plan for it. ha ha! who knew that i had it in me? let's hope this streak doesn't end.

grateful

so i've been meaning to post this & things just keep coming up. i don't ever think it's too late to say what you're thankful for & i guess it really doesn't have to be at this specific time of year. seen how this is my 29th year i thought i would list 29 things that i'm thankful & grateful for.

1. my wonderful husband!
2. my two darling kids!
3. my family and my in-laws.
4. my job.
5. a beautiful home where i feel safe & have warmth.
6. my beliefs.
7. my talents.
8. my health.
9. technology, it helped me get through two years of my parents being gone!
10. transportation.
11. conveniences we have in america.
12. being an american, i love america!
13. laughter.
14. holidays.
15. forgiveness.
16. education.
17. books.
18. good & loyal friends.
19. opportunities for my children, they love sports & bay loves to dance!
20. music.
21. pictures, capturing a precious moment or just a moment in time is priceless to me.
22. hospitals & modern day medicine, i can't imagine having 2 c-sections without it!
23. good examples.
24. being able to travel & vacation.
25. food.
26. the ability to learn.
27. seasons, although i'm not a fan of driving in the snow, or i guess really dealing with other drivers in the snow.
28. family time.
29. history.

i had a wonderful thanksgiving with my in-laws, thank you! thank you for loving me for me & accepting me into your family. i do have to say that i am very excited to think that next thanksgiving we will be able to also celebrate with my parents, i have missed them. just 35 days until they are home, but who's counting, ok i am! i love you mom & dad & can't wait for you to be home. who would have thought that it would have gone by so fast? in the beginning i thought i would never be able to make it without my mom, but i have learned so much. i realized i can make it & even though she's not an hour away she is always "there" for me. my relationship has grown so much stronger with my parents, especially my dad! who knew he had such a soft side? :0) thanks to todd for putting up with me this whole time. i was a mess in the beginning & he just loved me & let me cry, a lot! he is wonderful & there are so many things i love about him! thanks to my 2 precious kids for loving me unconditionally. i never knew that being a mom would be so wonderful! i love you 2 & thank you for letting me be the one you call mom!
i really am blessed! thank you to each & everyone of you that has touched my life, helped to make me a better person, been there for me, & for just being a part of my life. i am one blessed & lucky girl.

a must have...

& i have it! what is it you ask? boutique edition monopoly! have you ever seen anything so cute? it is one of my new favorite things. thanks to my sweet husband that humors me with such strange requests. who would have thought i would get so excited over a board game? after i played it for the first time i made several phone calls to people i thought would love it too. what am i thinking, who wouldn't love it, well besides the men out there? lol! please make note that this is a toys r us exclusive & it's on sale right now with free shipping! does it get any better? ok maybe free would be good. i hope you love it as much as i do.

i heart gwen & my sister-in-laws!

i love gwen! this morning as i was getting ready i was listening to her, she's awesome. one thing that i love about her is that she reminds me of my sister-in-laws that i love! we went to the gwen concert in april & we had so much fun. talk about a fun night! i think this was the first time in 9 years that we did something just the girls, without kids! i am so grateful to have sister-in-laws that are fun & consider me one of them. you girls are the best! i love you! oh funny thing about the night of the concert...we were all so tired & actually left a little early. i guess we're getting old! well maybe except for don's wife. maybe it's because she is still young & wears "white" beaters! sorry tor, i just had to say it. i laughed so hard & am laughing now just thinking about it. you won't get this unless you were there, but believe me it was funny. btw, i do know that they are called "wife" beaters, that was part of why it was so funny.

congratulations!

congratulations morgan family! we are so happy for you. they received a baby girl yesterday! this was unexpected for them & they were actually on a family vacation when they got the call. talk about surprise! they are wonderful parents to their other daughter & will be with their new bundle of joy. talk about an amazing early christmas present!

how cool!

i found out about these awesome books from my friend rachel. they can make your blog, trip pictures, wedding pictures, etc. into a book. check this site out! fun stuff!

i am also excited about a clock party i am having in december, thanks rach! mark your calendars ladies for a fun night in, december 13th. i will be sending invitations, but if you read this before you get one & you're interested leave me a comment. talk about awesome christmas presents! i will be making the red one for our house. i can't wait.

so a few of you are interested in what the "gift" was & who it is for? yes, gretch, it is a wii & it's a family gift. i am so excited about it & want to play it now! ok so something about me, surprises for other people kill me. well not the surprises, but waiting! i get so excited when i find the perfect thing for someone & i just want to give it to them, now! lol!

oh happy day!

that's right, happy day! so we've been on the hunt for a very hard to find gift. well not hard to find, but hard to get. you have to be in the right place at the right time. today was my lucky day! i remembered there was a store at the gateway that sold this item. i called them & they had two left! because they don't hold this item i ran there to get it. when i walked into the store my heart sank as i got in line behind 6 other people. i thought for sure i wouldn't be getting one today & the hunt would continue. the guys in the store were laughing at me because i was a little stressed about the situation. thankfully nobody in front of me purchased this item & i was able to get one. yeah! i was one happy girl, still am. it's already home & wrapped along with some other gifts. holy cow, i have never had gifts wrapped this early. i love feeling prepared. we should be pretty much all done by thanksgiving. how cool is that? i'm grateful to todd for his help in the christmas shopping process. i'm excited to just enjoy the holiday season. thanks to my sister amy for picking up a couple of items for me & to those of you that were keeping an eye out for me.

angels

my dear sweet friend amy b. sent this to me. it gave me the chills & i loved it. thanks amy! my hope is that i will be the angel in many people's lives!

I was driving home from a meeting this evening about 5, stuck in traffic on Colorado Blvd., and the car started to choke and splutter and die - I barely managed to coast, cursing, into a gas station, glad only that I would not be blocking traffic and would have a somewhat warm spot to wait for the tow truck. It wouldn't eve n turn over. Before I could make the call, I saw a woman walking out of the "quickie mart " building, and it looked like she slipped on some ice and fell into a Gas pump, so I got out to see if she was okay. When I got there, it looked more like she had been overcome by sobs than that she had fallen; she was a young woman who looked really haggard with dark circles under her eyes. She dropped something as I helped her up, and I picked it up to give it to her. It was a nickel. At that moment, everything came into focus for me: the crying woman, the ancient Suburban crammed full of stuff with 3 kids in the back (1 in a car seat), and the gas pump reading $4.95. I asked her if she was okay and if she needed help, and she just kept saying " don't want my kids to see me crying," so we stood on the other side of the pump from her car. She said she was driving to California and that things were very hard for her right now. So I asked, "And you were praying?" That made her back a away from me a little, but I assured her I was not a crazy person and said, "He heard you, and He sent me." I took out my card and swiped it through the card reader on the pump so she could fill up her car completely, and while it was fuelling, walked to the next door McDonald's and bought 2 big bags of food, some gift certificates for more, and a big cup of coffee. She gave the food to the kids in the car, who attacked it like wolves, and we stood by the pump eating fries and talking a little. She told me her name, and that she lived in Kansas City Her boyfriend left 2 months ago and she had not been able to make ends meet. She knew she wouldn't have money to pay rent Jan 1, and finally in desperation had finally called her parents, with whom she had not spoken in about 5 years. They lived in California and said she could come live with them and try to get on her feet there. So she packed up everything she owned in the car. She told the kids they were going to California for Christmas, but not that they were going to live there. I gave her my gloves, a little hug and said a quick prayer with her for safety on the road. As I was walking over to my car, she said, "So, are you like an angel or something?" This definitely made me cry. I said, "Sweetie, at this time of year angels are really busy, so sometimes God uses regular people." It was so incredible to be a part of someone else's miracle. And of course, you guessed it, when I got in my car it started right away and got me home with no problem. I'll put it in the shop tomorrow to check, but I suspect the mechanic won't find anything wrong.

Sometimes the angels fly close enough to you that you can hear the flutter of their wings...

*written by a metro denver hospice physician.

so grateful!

so seen how this is also a journal for me & my little family this may be a boring post to some of you.

do you ever have those times in your life where you are overwhelmed with gratitude? this is how i feel right now. there are several reasons that i feel grateful. i feel so blessed to have a husband that loves me, that puts up with me, that puts me & our kids first, that loves spending time with us, & i think he's amazing in so many ways! i'm grateful i have him in my life! i'm grateful for my kids. i love them & i'm grateful for all the joy & happiness they bring into my life. i'm grateful for the unconditional love & acceptance that kids have. i'm grateful for my parents. my mom & i have always been so close & i don't know what i would do without her. i'm grateful for the relationship that my dad & i have grown to have. he has really changed over the last two years & i love it! he sent me a letter today & it meant so much to me. i think it's funny how sometimes things happen in your life just when you need them, you know, little angel moments. thanks dad! i'm grateful for my in-laws that i love & adore! i love spending time with them, they are so much fun. i'm grateful for their acceptance & love. i'm a lucky girl!
i really have so much in my life that i'm grateful for & an ongoing goal for me is to focus on what i do have. i love being around positive people & i want to be one of those people. i know we all have our days or moments, but i'm really trying to be better. happy to be alive & happy to have all i do!

christmas music=one happy girl!

that's correct, i love christmas music & it makes me so happy! well guess what is now programed into my radio? 106.5, the all christmas music station. how awesome is that? i know some people think it's too early for christmas music, but i love it! i even had a cashier at the mall wish me 'merry christmas' on saturday! i wished her the same. :0) i love all the christmas decorations that are going up, it's just a fun time of year. todd put up our christmas lights on saturday. don't worry, we don't turn our lights on until after thanksgiving, i do draw the line there. we also don't get a tree until the first part of december. that is another one of my favorite things...taking the kids to pick out a tree! i have the most awesome husband too & he's so good about putting on the christmas tree lights & he does an awesome job! i'm pretty anal when it comes to my lights. i like each branch wrapped with the lights. not the funnest job & he still does it for me. he's the best! i have it good, don't i? so here's an early merry christmas to all of you!

before i was a mom

i received this email from dear friend amy b. thanks amy, i loved it & wanted to share. being a mom is the most amazing thing ever. it's the hardest thing, but also the best! i love being a mom!

Before I was a Mom I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.
Before I was a Mom I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put him down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't Stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom -I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.
Before I was a Mom -I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.